Friday, April 4, 2014

Lorraine Pascale's A Lighter Way to Bake Review + Oatmeal and Ginger Cookies

Since I am a cookbook lover, I decided to start reviewing cookbooks. These are all my honest opinions, and I am only going to write about books I think are the best.

Lorraine Pascale is one of my favorite famous chef, I love her passion about food and cooking. She is sincere and her recipes are not boring like most of the fancy TV cooks, that just throw some ingredients in their standing mixers and whip up a dish.

When I first flipped through the book, I was amazed by the beautiful pictures. Lorraine always features great pictures of her dishes in her books, which is an enormous factor for me. I only buy cookbooks that actually have pictures of the recipes in it, so I can see what the end result should look like. The book contains recipes of favorite naughty treats, only made lighter. Lorraine promises the recipes are lighter in sugar and fat, but still tasty and full of flavor.
A Lighter Way to Bake is divided into nine chapters; Breakfast and Brunch, Bread, Savoury Bakes, Puddings and Desserts, Cakes, Cookies and Traybakes, Teatime Treats, Special Occasions and Entertaining, Pastry and Basics. Another thing I love in this book is the intro to each recipe, in which Lorraine shares something personal or explains her tricks and tips for baking.

I decided to include the recipe for Oatmeal and Ginger Cookies because they are simply delicious. These cookies are so tasty, even though they contain a small amount of sugar. The sweetness was a bit too much for me, so I think halving the amount of sugar would be perfect. It is all about finding the balance!

Preheat the oven to 170°C.Line a large baking sheet with baking parchment. Cream together the butter and sugar until combined then stir in the egg and olive oil until well mixed.Add the flour, oats, ginger, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Mix everything together until a dough is formed. Using damp hands divide the mixture into 12 or 24 equal sized balls - place on the baking tray spaced out and lightly press them down slightly so they're about 1.5 cm thick.